A Heartfelt Welcome!

Freo Today. 6 April 2025. Nearly 5 years ago, on 20 April 2020, in the difficult early days of Covid regulation, the Artania was an unscheduled and largely unwelcome visitor to Fremantle. A number of ill passengers were taken from the cruise ship and hospitalised in Perth. Most of the rest of the passengers found their way back to their mostly European homes by means of a flight from Perth to Frankfurt. When Artania eventually departed Fremantle there was an outpouring of sentiment for the ship and those charged with sailing her home. We told the story of Artania’ departure in our story The Artania – A Heartfelt Farewell. As we wrote at the time: ‘In its wake, Artania also left a strange sense of hope, and a belief that we really can deal with covid in the here and now, and in the future.’ Well, this morning Artania returned, nearly 5 years later. And we did learn to deal with Covid in the in between times. This morning, our Jean Hudson was there to greet Artania and picture her arrival. We bid Artania a heartfelt welcome!